Chelsea XI:<\/strong> Sanchez; James, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella; Ugochukwu, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPADDY POWER WELCOME OFFER – Get \u00a340 in free bet builder bets<\/strong><\/p>\nFollow ALL the action from St James' Park with our live blog below…<\/em><\/p>\n\njust now<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea<\/h3>\n 4. Chelsea come forward now and Jackson drives to the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
He looks for Sterling instead of shooting himself and that pass is intercepted. Good start to this one.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
just now<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea<\/h3>\n 3. Joelinton dispossessed on the edge of his own box by Ugochukwu but Chelsea can't make the most of it.<\/p>\n
Newcastle go on the counter and Bruno Guimaraes dinks a delightful ball over the top for Isak but good defending sees that move snuffed out.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
2 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea<\/h3>\n 2. A couple of early attacking throw-ins for Chelsea come to nothing.<\/p>\n
Trippier wins a free kick on halfway to stop that early push.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, he's starting at right back here, with Livramento on the left. Many – including yours truly – thought they'd be the other way.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n4 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>KICK OFF!<\/h3>\n Chelsea get us under way!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
4 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Last words<\/h3>\n The Toon gather for a huddle and the crowd bursts into life as they break away in position.<\/p>\n
Here we go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
7 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Here they come!<\/h3>\n Englishmen Jamaal Lascelles and Reece James lead their sides out.<\/p>\n
The Toon faithful unveil one of the biggest tifos of the season behind the goal to our left.<\/p>\n
Simon Hooper gets the captains in for the coin toss after the handshakes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
9 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Heading for the pitch<\/h3>\n The players start to gather in the tunnel and we're set for a start in just a few minutes.<\/p>\n
The Chelsea fans trying to make themselves heard up in clouds!<\/p>\n
Blaydon Races blaring from the tannoy, so we must be close to a start.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
15 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Talking of tables…<\/h3>\n So we've got one of the top scorers in the division and one of the top 'foulers' too.<\/p>\n
But we can't not mention one of the top assisters in the league this season.<\/p>\n
Only Pedro Neto (7) has more assists in the league this season than Kieran Trippier (6).<\/p>\n
Incredible stats from the right back, though he'll need to improve his recent set pieces to add to that tally here.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
18 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Heating up<\/h3>\n The players are just about finished their warm ups as we edge towards kick off.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere really building as the supporters begin taking their seats.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n21 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Offer<\/h3>\n There's also a top betting offer for this one but you need to be quick!<\/p>\n
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30 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Top fouler<\/h3>\n Conor Gallagher has just one booking to his name this season.<\/p>\n
That might not sound too much of a story, but the Chelsea midfielder has amassed a huge 26 fouls in the Premier League so far.<\/p>\n
That's clear at the top of the fouls table, with second place racking up 22 fouls.<\/p>\n
Tenacious.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/li>\n33 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Last time out<\/h3>\n The sides last met on the final day of last season in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
Anthony Gordon's opener cancelled out by a Kieran Trippier own goal in the opening half hour.<\/p>\n
They also met in pre-season, where that also finished 1-1.<\/p>\n
The last encounter at St James' was a 1-0 Newcastle win last season.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
39 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Jackson rolling<\/h3>\n Four goals in his last two games for Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson looks to have found his feet at last.<\/p>\n
In fact, he's now amongst the top scorers for the season as a result.<\/p>\n
Callum Wilson is one goal ahead of him but he's not fit enough to make the squad this afternoon.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/li>\n44 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Man in the middle<\/h3>\n Simon Hooper is the referee for today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Today is Hooper\u2019s ninth game of the season in all competitions and he\u2019s dished out 38 yellow cards in that time.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also the man who sent Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota off in that loss to Tottenham earlier this campaign \u2013 his only two reds this season.<\/p>\n
John Brooks is the VAR man. Praying we don\u2019t hear too much from the technology today.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
48 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Can't split them<\/h3>\n The bookies are having a hard time picking out the favourites for today's game.<\/p>\n
Newcastle JUST <\/strong>edge that…<\/p>\nLatest odds from Betfair.<\/p>\n
\nNewcastle 6\/4<\/li>\n Draw 9\/5<\/li>\n Chelsea 7\/5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n53 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Tell a lie…<\/h3>\n Alexander-Arnold has just equalised for Liverpool.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
54 minutes ago<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>How we stand<\/h3>\n This is the state of play heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n
Manchester City are leading Liverpool 1-0 with 12 minutes to go – but this is the table taking that result out of the equation.<\/p>\n
Newcastle are six points off the top four – Chelsea a further four behind in 10th.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/li>\nToday, 14:07<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Looking stronger<\/h3>\n Eddie Howe will be thrilled to have Isak back in the fold.<\/p>\n
With Gordon and Almiron in the front three, that's back to looking more like it from his point of view.<\/p>\n
For Chelsea, the Palmer-Sterling-Jackson front three also looks to have clicked in recent weeks and they're together again here too.<\/p>\n
Less than an hour to go now!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Today, 14:03<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Chelsea team news<\/h3>\n Pochettino makes two changes to the side that drew 4-4 with Man City.<\/p>\n
Badiashile and Ugochukwu the two to come in for this one.<\/p>\n
CHELSEA XI: <\/strong>Sanchez, James, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Enzo, Gallagher, Palmer, Sterling, Jackson.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nToday, 14:00<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Newcastle team news<\/h3>\n Eddie Howe has revealed his XI to face Chelsea this afternoon.<\/p>\n
And it's significant team news too. Alexander Isak is BACK <\/strong>in the squad after injury!<\/p>\nBruno Guimaraes and Tino Livramento also come in from the team that lost to Bournemouth.<\/p>\n
NEWCASTLE XI: <\/strong>Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento, Bruno G, Miley, Joelinton, Almiron, Gordon, Isak. <\/p>\n<\/li>\nToday, 13:56<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Two on the mend…<\/h3>\n Pochettino did reveal that Christopher Nkunku and Rom\u00e9o Lavia weren't too far away from a return.<\/p>\n
He told the press: "Lavia and Nkunku are still out. There is no timeframe for them, it is difficult to say because we need to assess them day-by-day. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are in a good condition, Nkunku a little bit ahead of Lavia. He was doing things with the group last week but it is still not a full recovery to be part of the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nToday, 13:52<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>Setting the scene<\/h3>\n St James' Park looking resplendent in the winter sun.<\/p>\n
Not particularly warm but certainly a near perfect day for football out there.<\/p>\n
The players arrived a short time ago – plenty of gloves on show anyway!<\/p>\n<\/span><\/li>\nToday, 13:47<\/time><\/span>By Craig Mahood<\/span>